Joseph Gallieni

Joseph Simon Gallieni (24 April 1849-27 May 1916) was a General de division of the French Army who served as Minister of War of France from 28 October 1915 to 16 March 1916, succeeding Alexandre Millerand and preceding Pierre Roques. Gallieni fought in the Franco-Prussian War, the pacification of Madagascar, and World War I, and his victory at the First Battle of the Marne in 1914 saved France from ultimate defeat.

Biography
Joseph Gallieni was born in Saint-Beat, France, a town on the Pyrenees, to a family of Corsican and Italian descent. Gallieni graduated from Saint-Cyr and served as a Lieutenant in the French Army during the Franco-Prussian War, being captured at Bazeilles. In 1876, Gallieni was sent to Senegal to start a long career as an officer and administrator in France's African colonies, and he crushed an uprising in Mali in 1886 while serving as governor there. From 1892 to 1896, he was posted in French Indochina, and he served in Madagascar from 1896 to 1905, unlawfully abolishing the monarchy in 1897 and ending the Merina monarchy. In 1905, Gallieni returned home to govern Lyon and lead the Army of the Alps, and he declined many bureaucratic roles due to his criticism of the army's current layout. On 31 July 1914, when World War I broke out, he was designated Joseph Joffre's successor "in case of emergency", and Gallieni correctly predicted the Imperial German Army's movements before they had even occurred. Gallieni was sent to govern Paris, and he led the reservists of the city to join the main army at the Marne when the Germans assaulted the Allies there. Gallieni planned the counteroffensive against the Germans, moving his troops to the frontlines on taxicabs and orchestrating a massive assault that routed the German army and saved Paris. Gallieni was appointed Minister of War by Prime Minister Aristide Briand in 1915, and he authorized the use of 50,000 black troops on the Western Front. In 1916, after being diagnosed with prostate cancer, and after witnessing Joffre's incompetence at the Battle of Verdun, Gallieni decided to retire, and he died on 27 May 1916 at the age of 67.